Fan Theory: Is Gandalf Related To Frodo?
Images: CultureSlate
Could Gandalf possibly be related to nearly all the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings? Bilbo, Merry, Pippin, and Frodo. Everyone in the Fellowship, except Sam. Now this may seem crazy, but there’s a new fan theory gaining traction that Gandalf might have got a little bit too familiar with a Took ancestor after a night of fireworks and pipe-weed. Let’s look at the evidence.
Old Took’s Life Expectancy Anomaly
Gerontius Took aka The Old Took is a key descendant of Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin, and according to Tolkien, he lived until the ripe old age of a hundred and thirty. That’s a good thirty years past the hundred-year life expectancy for the race.
To put this into perspective, Bilbo lived out his retirement with the Elves, had the life-extending One Ring in his possession for sixty years, and only beat Old Took by one measly year. He was a hundred and thirty-one when he finally sailed away to Valinor. Bilbo had lots of magical interventions but only just managed to catch up with Gerontius. What extended the Hobbit’s life span?
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Image Source: The One Ring
Gerontius Took is the only child of Fortinbras, the 25th Thane of the Shire. His mother is not documented, and Tolkien tells us nothing about this mysterious Hobbit noble aside from the date of his death in 1201 (Shire Reckoning). What’s so mysterious about Old Took’s mother that it could not be written down? Was Old Took a foundling/adopted out to a Thane that desperately needed an heir? Or did Gandalf somehow manage to concieve with Fortinbras? No one’s quite figured out that bit, but the fanfiction writers at AO3 will probably give it a go.
Tolkien says in The Hobbit “It was often said (in other families) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was still something not entirely Hobbitlike about them.”
But fairies don’t exist in Tolkien’s world, so it must be a Hobbit name for some other magical creature, either the Maiar or the Elves. The lack of pointy ears on any of the Hobbits rules out the latter. The Took's unHobbit-like tendency towards adventure also suggests that it isn’t an Elf that’s somehow found its way into the family tree, as Elves are generally reserved. However, one of the Maiar loves getting to scrapes and going on the odd quest.
This begs the question, is Gandalf the real parent of Gerontius Took?
Was It Logistically Possible?
According to Tolkien’s timelines, yes. Gandalf was in the Shire around the time of Old Took’s birth (dates in S.R.) as he was noted as first appearing during the long winter of 1158, and Gerontius was born in 1190. Gandalf’s next great quest to aid the dwarves (Khazad-dûm) wasn’t until 1245. It appears the Wizard settled in the Shire long enough for Gerontius’ Grandchild Frodo to be born and remember him at parties. In the gap of 55 years, that fits quite neatly.
The Relationship Between Gandalf And The Tooks
Gandalf had a close friendship with Gerontius Took, so much so that his grandson Bilbo remembered him. The Wizard often gave Old Took gifts and entertained him with grandiose stories and fireworks. When Bilbo first comes across Gandalf at the beginning of The Hobbit novel, he says:
“Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themsElves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows’ sons? Not the man that used to make such particularly excellent fireworks! I remember those! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer’s Eve. Splendid! They used to go up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire and hang in the twilight all evening!”
Image Source: The One Ring
But Gandalf also name-drops another Hobbit frequently, Bilbo’s mother. “To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!”
Gandalf wandered through all of Middle-Earth, but he always found his way back to the Shire. Not only that, out of all the Hobbits in the region, Gandalf played favorites with this particular family. Gandalf does not name-drop any other Hobbits outside of the Took family. He even tries to convince Bilbo that he is less of a Baggins by constantly disparaging that side of the family and linking him to his Took ancestors. Gandalf doesn’t seem particularly bothered with anyone else in the Shire, but he’s ingrained enough in the Tooks to not only know four generations but also the family legends.
Was There Another Reason Gandalf Was There?
It would be easy to blame this on the One Ring, that Gandalf was there because he had some insight that Frodo would be the key to taking down Sauron. But Gandalf didn’t predict that Saruman had fallen, or that Bilbo (who had the ring for seventeen years before Gandalf worked out what it was) had the ring in the first place. He’s unlikely to have foreseen that Gerontius would be the descendant of the Hobbit that took it to Mount Doom. And he didn’t bother with Samwise Gamgee’s relatives, and we all know he was the true hero of the book.
It could be argued that Gandalf just likes the company of Hobbits. But why those particular Hobbits? Why that family? Is there something you are not telling us Gandalf? Was Gerontius Took a secret wizard lovechild? It’s all very suspicious.
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Source(s): Tumblr, The One Wiki, Tolkien Gateway, Thainsbook
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